About
Community
Bad Ideas
Guns & Weapons
Irresponsible Activities
KA-FUCKING-BOOM!
Locks and Security
Scams and Rip-offs
Drugs
Ego
Erotica
Fringe
Society
Technology
register | bbs | search | rss | faq | about
meet up | add to del.icio.us | digg it

Tickets to Nowhere (Airline Ticket Scams)


NOTICE: TO ALL CONCERNED Certain text files and messages contained on this site deal with activities and devices which would be in violation of various Federal, State, and local laws if actually carried out or constructed. The webmasters of this site do not advocate the breaking of any law. Our text files and message bases are for informational purposes only. We recommend that you contact your local law enforcement officials before undertaking any project based upon any information obtained from this or any other web site. We do not guarantee that any of the information contained on this system is correct, workable, or factual. We are not responsible for, nor do we assume any liability for, damages resulting from the use of any information on this site.

Creators Syndicate

FIGHT BACK! BY DAVID HOROWITZ

Tickets to Nowhere

Every year in this country, nearly $60 million worth of
stolen, counterfeit and fraudulent airline tickets change hands.
Profits are so high in this business that travel agents have been
burglarized, held up at gun point and even murdered for their
blank-ticket stock and validation plates.
These bogus tickets are then sold to travelers by scam artists
posing as legitimate passengers, travel agents or airline employees.
But even though stolen tickets may have all the right markings, they
are still "hot." "The minute an agent is robbed or has ticket stock
stolen, it's reported -- not only to the police, but to the Airlines
Reporting Corporation," explains Ada Brown of the American Society of
Travel Agents. "Those tickets are immediately input into the system at
all airlines. If the airline doesn't stop it, it's because they simply
didn't check the ticket numbers."
Thieves may delay report of the theft by purchasing a ticket
from a legitimate source using a stolen credit-card number. They may
even launder that ticket by exchanging it for a ticket on a different
flight. Even so, that ticket is tagged, and the computer system will
eventually catch up with it.
Sometimes, agents themselves try to defraud the airlines by
selling tickets and not forwarding the money to the carriers. A
federal grand jury in Los Angeles recently indicted six agents and
agency employees for allegedly using another agent's ticket stock and
computer to issue more than $1 million worth of tickets for which the
airlines were never paid.
Some phony agents don't even bother with stolen tickets. They
simply run an ad in the newspaper promising huge discounts on air
fares. They collect the money and promise the traveler that the
tickets will be delivered in a couple of weeks or will be waiting for
them at the airport. And that's the last the victims see of the agent
or their money.
Some people don't care where the ticket came from -- as long
as they get on the plane. But it's not that easy to board a flight
with a lost, stolen or forged ticket. All the ticket agent has to do
is run a computer check on the ticket number. If it's stolen, it will
show up immediately. At that point, things get ugly -- and expensive.
"The least thing that's probably going to happen is that
you're going to be terribly embarrassed," says Ada Brown. "You're
going to have that ticket taken away from you. Security is going to be
called. And then, if you want to continue your trip, you not only lose
the amount you paid for that ticket, you have to buy a new ticket,
full fare."
Think about that before you buy discount airline tickets from
an unknown source. Airlines must be paid the face value of each
ticket. If someone offers to sell you $1,000 worth of tickets for
$400, it's almost certainly a fraud, and you could be left standing at
the airport -- holding the bag.

If you have any questions or comments, please write to David
Horowitz in the Consumer Forum+ (go FIGHTBACK).

COPYRIGHT 1994 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.


 
To the best of our knowledge, the text on this page may be freely reproduced and distributed.
If you have any questions about this, please check out our Copyright Policy.

 

totse.com certificate signatures
 
 
About | Advertise | Bad Ideas | Community | Contact Us | Copyright Policy | Drugs | Ego | Erotica
FAQ | Fringe | Link to totse.com | Search | Society | Submissions | Technology
Hot Topics
How to Really Succeed at Bad Ideas
burning a house down
succesfull lynch?
breaking into the white house?
Free Microsoft products W/O OWNING THEM!
My Latest Encounter with the Police.
The (real) truth about Night-Ops
The Great Butter Heist!!!
 
Sponsored Links
 
Ads presented by the
AdBrite Ad Network

 
www.pigdog.org
 

TSHIRT HELL T-SHIRTS